


A Fairytale

by Indieblue



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, I have no idea what happened, The fanfic bug bit me, but I just needed more of them, outside of my usual fandom, so this happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 06:16:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indieblue/pseuds/Indieblue
Summary: "She’s like a fairytale: creamy pale skin, coppery reddish locks that are like tongues of flame being spat right out of a dragon’s mouth, and those big blue eyes."A mini exploration into Rio's mind from the time he meets Beth until the season finale.





	A Fairytale

**Author's Note:**

> I don't exactly know how this happened, but I binged Good Girls on Netflix, feel in love with Rio and Beth, devoured a bunch of fics about them, told myself I wasn't going to write anything...and now here we are.
> 
> This is a bit out of the norm for what I normally write, and I already have a bunch of ideas for short series about these two because that FINALE though. I have so many ideas swirling around in my head it's a bit ridiculous.
> 
> My tumblr: indiebluecrown.tumblr.com
> 
> Hopefully you guys like it, and please let me know what you think x

  She’s like a fairytale: creamy pale skin, coppery reddish locks that are like tongues of flame being spat right out of a dragon’s mouth, and those big blue eyes. Damn, those  _ eyes _ .

  Except, she isn’t the princess locked away in the tower, it ain’t anything mundane like that. She  _ is _ the dragon.

  The first time he saw her his mouth went dry, and fuck him if that wasn't a neon sign telling him to get as far away from her as possible.

  They are going to give him back his money, and if they didn't then he would have to  _ handle _ the situation. It’s simple, clean cut.

  It didn't take long for him to figure out that  _ nothing  _ was simple when it came to Elizabeth fucking Boland.

  She pleads her case, his boy has a gun to her head, and even though he can see her hands trembling, she looks directly at him and her voice is steady, even.

  Truthfully, the money isn't the issue, it’s the principle of the whole matter. No one steals from him.

  She's trouble, he knows that, but for some reason, he says okay and him and his boys leave.

  Beth had gotten under his skin, and despite  _ all _ of his better judgement, he finds he doesn't mind that much.

  She’s like an imprint on his skin, just as tangible and real as the rest of the ink that crisscrosses its way across his body.

  She’s trouble, she’s bad news, and it really hit him when she left him her pearls. Her fucking pearls.

  The first time Rio lays eyes on her fool of a husband he decides he hates him. The man doesn't even realise how  _ good  _ he’s got it.

  Beth never went into the details, but Rio had gathered enough. Plus Suburban wives don't hold up a grocery store for the shits and giggles. She must have been desperate. (Most people’s minds don’t automatically go to robbing a store, but Beth isn’t most people, and maybe that’s why she’s so fascinating to him.)

  The joker doesn't  _ see _ her. 

  Rio sees the way she stiffens whenever her husband is around, and he notices that when she spots  _ him  _ the stiffness is still there, but then, it melts.

  He’s so fucked.

  They’re in her bedroom, and he’s perusing the pictures of her, her husband, her kids. He doesn't belong here, they are from completely different worlds, and he knows she can only play in his for so long before she can't leave. Shit just don't work that way.

  Hell, he’s spent far too long lingering on the outskirts of her bright, cookie cutter world. The logical part of his brain keeps telling him it’s better for everyone if he returns to the shadows and keeps out of sight.

  Her husband doesn't look trustworthy, he tells her as much. There isn’t just a stiffness now, there’s hurt held in those vibrant blue eyes.

  Rio wants to break a leg or two, and maybe his nose for good measure.

  Then the fucker has to interrupt them. Car man.

  Car man doesn't deserve her. He’s a privileged, entitled fuck up, and she’s…she’s like good bourbon as it slides down your throat and warms your insides. She is something to behold, a challenge, and a fighter. There’s iron in her eyes as he strides past her, hands shoved in his pockets, and if he didn’t know better he’d think she’s daring him to come over and taste her fire for himself.

  A deal goes south, one of his boys gets shot, and he’s dead before he hits the pavement. Rio wasn't there, but he makes sure that everyone knpws that there are repercussions for screwing him or any of his crew over.

  Rio should have cut ties with the woman the moment he drove to her house looking for  _ something _ . He’s all twisted up inside because Antonio was too young, the boy’s Mama is a mess, and even though Rio takes care of his own, that isn’t going to bring her son back.

  He sits outside, the soft purr of the running engine humming in his ears, and he can see her silhouette in the window through the closed, white, cotton curtains.

  The light turns off, the house goes dark, and it's like a splash of cold water hit him. Why is he  _ here _ ?

  His right thumb rubs against his knuckles on his opposite hand for a second, and he shakes his head, an amused sound at the back of his throat. Yea, Beth has gotten under his skin. He turns the key all the way in the ignition, switches off the headlights, and leaves.

  Rio has a soft spot for her, and it’s  _ dangerous _ .

  What’s even more dangerous is looking in her eyes, and seeing that she feels it too. Whatever it is.

  Everything is going well,  _ too  _ well, and one of his boys gets caught by the feds. Thankfully, Rio’s got informants on the inside, and word quickly reaches him that his boy rolls on them.

  He gives Beth the empty van cause he knows she can handle it, and that she won’t be in any real danger. He didn’t expect her fire, her fury, and he sure as fuck didn’t expect her to throw the keys in his face.

  He can’t allow that kind of disrespect. If it was anyone else, he probably would have broken their knee caps.

  His judgment gets foggy when she’s around, and he can’t afford that. He’d rather not end up with a bullet between his eyes, or worse.

  So he lets her go. Their worlds briefly brushed against each other, but now they’re untangled again; like they were always supposed to be.

  He didn’t expect the feds to come knocking, he didn’t expect to get carted off in cuffs. The smug look on Agent Turner’s face makes his blood boil, but outwardly he keeps on an impassive mask.

  He’s fucking fuming when he gets out: the evidence they have is circumstantial—and after several gruelling hours and a favour from a lawyer friend of his—none of it sticks.

  He’s sitting at her dining room table, staring intently at his inked forearm as it rests across the smooth surface. He heard the story she told Turner from one of his informants—he was curious, and he trusted her, well, he  _ had  _ trusted her before this clusterfuck.

  Part of him still wonders what it’d be like to take her on the kitchen table, but the thought is gone as soon as Car Man merrily strolls into the house, all smiles with flowers in his hand.

  Rio’s face is cast in shadow, there is murderous intent thinly veiled across his features, and Car Man doesn't have the good sense to read a fucking room. He opens his gob and starts spewing shit like, “ _ Bounce House guy? What are you doing in my house? _ ”

  Car Man’s voice grates on his nerves. Car Man just doesn’t  _ get _ it; the man had a perfectly good thing and Rio may not know the how or the why, but he  _ clearly _ fucked it up. 

  Rio clenches his jaw, and gives him five seconds to stop. He doesn't.

  Next thing he knows, the two of them are scuffling, and he’ll give it to Car Man, he has fight in him, but Rio is livid and he needs to expel his rage somewhere. That somewhere just happens to be Car Man’s face. He got to break his nose after all.

  Rio hears Beth’s car pull up, and he gruffly sits them both down.

  Rio hears the door click open, and gently close. Calmly, he calls, “ _ hey honey, we’re home.” _

  She walks in, heels clipping across the hardwoods, coppery hair ablaze. She halts. She drops her purse.

  He  _ hates  _ that he hates the look in her blue eyes, and when she begs him not to kill them, he can't stop the laughter. He doesn't want to kill her.

  He slides the gun over to her, throws her scumbag husband to the side—he slumps down in his chair—and leans forward, daring her to pull the trigger.

  When her eyes meet his, and the barrel of the gun is pointed right at him, he knows the truth. She isn't a princess, or a dragon. If he’s the King, then she’s the  _ Queen _ . A Queen who doesn't take shit from nobody.

_ That's my girl _ , he can't help but think.

  Then she’s lowering the gun, tears are streaming down her face, but there's a hardness to her too.

  Rio pushes up and out of his seat, and doesn't pause when he hears the chair clatter to the floor behind him.

  He’s in front of her, staring down into those big blue eyes, and he  _ knows _ she can see him. She’s staring right into his soul, and he knows he can't afford to have that happen, but he lets her, for a moment.

  “I wasn't ever going to kill you, Elizabeth,” Rio says, and whilst still maintaining eye contact he reaches down and pries the gun out of her hand. The place where their skin touches is all heat and fire and it  _ burns _ .

  He tucks the gun into the back of his waistband, and pulls his shirt over it. She takes a step towards him, and he starts walking backwards.

  He takes one more glance at Car Man and sneers, “you deserve better, Red.”

  Rio doesn't risk another look at  _ her _ , he  _ can't _ .

  He’s out the door and halfway to his car when he hears her voice behind him. He doesn't stop.

  This game of make believe is over, this isn’t a fairytale, or some story that has a happily ever after. She may be etched into his skin now, but whatever it was, whatever they had, it’s done now. This time for good.

  Rio throws open his car door, and slides into the driver’s seat—the leather creaks slightly as he sits down. He leans forward just enough to pull his gun out of his pants and rest it on the seat beside him. There's blood trailing down the side of his face. 

  He puts the key in the ignition, turns it, and like a beast the car roars as it rouses from its slumber.

  He winces. The gash stings, and without sparing a glance at the front yard where he knows Beth is—cause if he looks at her he won't be able to leave—he slams his foot on the gas and peels out of there.

  The image of her looking up at him plays through his head again and again, and eventually he pulls over.

  Rio’s hands grip the steering wheel, so tightly that his knuckles change colour. His head falls back against the headrest and he simply looks at the road. He looks at the picture perfect houses with their well kempt lawns.

  No one ever wants to talk about it, but some of the most fucked up shit happened around places like this. The places no one looks.

  He takes a moment to just breathe, to try and shake her, and to talk himself out of doing some stupid shit. Stupid shit like turning around and going back to see what she tastes like.

  He almost does too, but then he remembers that she’s his Achilles heel, and in his position he can't have  _ any  _ weaknesses or blind spots. So he doesn't.

  He pulls back onto the road, thinking about that creamy skin, and coppery red hair, and how it’s better this way.

  Elizabeth Boland is like a fairytale, but that kind of thing isn’t cut out for guys like him. Her worthless husband may not deserve her, but neither does he.

  He thinks maybe he can go back to how things were, pretend like it never happened, but even he knows that he’s he’s just fooling himself; cause Lord knows that you don't ever forget a woman like Elizabeth Boland.


End file.
